


Lifesaver extras

by Metalsappho



Series: Metall/u/rgy [13]
Category: Metall/u/rgy
Genre: F/F, Flashback, Gen, Introspection, Midnight walks, Retrospective, cyborg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-05-19 16:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5974534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metalsappho/pseuds/Metalsappho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some extra stuff surrounding the bigger Lifesaver arc.</p><p>Chapter 1: Technetium and Berkelium<br/>Chapter 2: Molybdenum</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Back to life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Technetium begins to live with her new limbs.
> 
> (Place in the timeline: 5 years ago, between the first two parts of Lifesevaer chapter 2)

The car was progressing cautiously down the road; it had been a cold night after a rainy day, so Molybdenum was wary of ice on the asphalt. In the back seat, Technetium was gazing at the brown landscape where some white was still present. She and her mother were chatting innocently when suddenly, one of the rear wheels slipped, making the car spin out of control. As Molybdenum tried to retake control, Technetium saw the trees shift back and forth, then she saw the lorry, approaching very fast, its image rapidly growing, and growing, until...

Technetium's eyes shot open, searching anxiously in the darkness, she was sweating and breathing heavily. As she began to recognize the familiar ceiling of her hospital room, her mind calmed down a lot. _This nightmare again_ she thought, turning head about to make sure she was indeed in the safety of her room. Some moments passed with her lying still, not moving while her consciousness began to slowly gather all her senses together. Then, as if she remembered something, she suddenly lifted her right arm and put her hand on display in front of her eyes. She was greeted by the sight of her synthetic limb; skinless and sleek, an intricate combination of off-white muscles and dark grey bones. For several minutes she moved her hand about, from the fingers to her wrist, absently testing its mobility, gradually the whole arm followed suit, and then the other arm. Eventually, she got up and went to bathroom. As she flicked the light switch, the sudden brightness made her eyes sting, so she waited for them to adjust, before looking at the mirror. It wasn't the first time she did that lately, but after a year confined to bed, she still became mesmerized by the sight of herself in a mirror. Her short dark grey hair was chopped, with uneven strands, and her eyes were dark grey, like her mother's. There were still some shadows under her eyes, but it was nowhere near as bad as when she looked in the mirror just after the operation. 

Life was going uphill for her, the operation gave her some shiny new limbs, that she now had complete control over, and she was due to leave the hospital later today. Her mother was getting better too, and she met the dashing Uranium, so kind and so talented. Yet the shadows of her past occasionally haunted her and the flashback of that fateful day often showed up in her sleep. It was a perfect recreation of what happened; she was riding in the back of the car when a patch of ice caused the car to spin and be intercepted by an oncoming lorry before it had time to go for the ditch. There was no dramatization like it's often the case in nightmares, but Technetium figured such a traumatic event wasn't going to let her mind free that easily. Weirdly, though, she didn't have these nightmares during the year before the operation...actually, she didn't have anything. The days were uneventful, her mother kept over-exerting herself attending to her every need and she just let time pass by while feeling nothing, like she was drowning in warm wallpaper paste. Well, she did have Berkelium, a genuine gentle soul - an over two meter, more than half a ton metal giant with an astronaut helmet and tentacle hands gentle soul, but a gentle soul nevertheless - but Berkelium, for all her awkward moral support couldn't bring back what Technetium had lost. Then one day, that Uranium appeared, with her long flowing hair, her small spectacles, and her awesome white blouse...and told her she could give her limbs back, but only synthetic ones. That was a dilemma, and part of her was definitely against that, but Uranium made a tear of hope in the black veil of her resignation, and a tear can only keep growing, larger and larger. All the arguments that circled in her head, all the points she made to herself about biological integrity and stuff, all that eventually got swept by her deeper and all-consuming desire to live normally again. Plus being a cyborg sounded _cool_ , way cooler than being stuck in bed impotently watching her mother wasting herself away, at the very least. Terne had asked her 'what if it goes wrong' well if it would go wrong, at least it would've gone wrong all the way, the wrong wouldn't have stopped halfway through, incommoding everyone in the process. Terne talked a lot like the part of her opposing the operation, but by that time her mind was already made up. All that was now in the past, but the past kept coming back in her head, reminding her of what happened. Technetium wanted it to go away, but it still came back when her guard was down, as if it didn't accept defeat and did what it could only do at this point; annoy her.

Technetium stood back, still looking at herself in the mirror. Her hospital blouse allowed a good look at her arms and legs. They were really cool...and beautiful, despite not having skin. They were arranged exactly like a human's with the same bones, tendons, and muscles, so it only took a handful of physical therapy sessions to be fully functional again, as her brain already knew, deep down, how to command the different muscles to perform a particular move. Technetium was still impressed by what had been achieved here, Uranium and Thorium were absolute geniuses, she could never thank them enough for what they did; developing new limbs, a new spine...wait a minute there was the spine too, wasn't there? Technetium still hasn't seen it, she felt it with her hands, but that was it. She hesitated, but eventually took off her blouse, exposing her almost naked body. She grimaced a bit looking at her in the mirror; she was _pale_ , so pale that her skin almost blended in with her white underwear and her white synthetic muscles. That year in that hospital bed didn't do her skin any favours, but fortunately, those days will soon come to an end. Come to think of it, next year she'll be sixteen, which means she'll be able to get her driving licence, and then she will be able to go wherever she wants, preferably to the beach. She can already see herself sunbathing; she could also take Steel and Terne with her, Steel will surely be full of joy and Terne will be more bashful. As she was making plans, she turned around enough to have a full view of her spine. It was on full display, amazing and intimidating, completely mesmerizing. The spine was the same dark grey as her synthetic bones, albeit with an anodized finish, and was directly linked to the natural muscles. She spent some time staring at it, a spine is quite an integral part of the body, and she was weirded out, not by the new one itself, but by the whole process of removing the old one to install the new one. She didn't want to image how she looked like on the operation table at the time, probably just a lump of meat with no structure or limbs... _freaky_

That was a truly disturbing thought, even if the new spine was now firmly attached to her body, so she decided to go for a morning walk to stop thinking about that. She put her blouse back on, walked back to her room and opened the shutters...only to find a dark sky and a very quiet hospital, and one look at the clock informed her that it was just past three in the morning. Technetium became momentarily disheartened; at this hour only the emergency department would have some activity, otherwise the whole hospital would be a ghost town...heh it didn't sound that bad actually, hospitals at night are said to be very interesting places, and come to think of it, she didn't want to put her limbs on display that soon.

Having settled on her night time walk, she put on some polar fleece sweatshirt and sweatpants, along with her trusty battered Caterpillars and got out of her room. The corridor wasn't as warm as her room but it was still comfortable, the cold will bite her when she'll get outside, though, as the hospital is a giant maze of buildings, sometimes not connected to each other. She walked slowly down the corridor, in the a slightly spooky atmosphere; in the silence of the night, the usually discreet buzzing of various electronic equipment was filling all the auditive space. The only lights on were the ones indicating the emergency exits, so the corridors were mostly dark but sufficiently bright to walk through without bumping into chairs, fire extinguishers, hospital beds or doors. Technetium walked for some time through the maze of corridors, exited buildings to enter new ones. She felt like being a kid again; walking in wonder in a strange world, she was half-expecting to run into the monsters from Where The Wild Things Are, maybe that would've happened if she was wearing a white wolf disguise. As she exited the main maternity building, she discovered a small park, with trees, alleyways, and a lot of space. She was still deep inside the hospital complex, but it was like she was out on the street. She wandered about for some time in the dark and deserted park, her mind contemplative of the surreal atmosphere. Suddenly, she picked out some movement at the other end of the park and instinctively hid. She didn't risk anything as she wasn't in any restricted area, but still she didn't particularly fancy a chat with some staff member on night duty. Technetium approached the unknown shape cautiously, staying behind the trees until she could have a good view of her fellow insomniac. There they were, and they were...Berkelium? A bit taken aback, Technetium stayed quietly behind her tree, observing the metal giant strolling about, her astronaut helmet head looking up at the dark sky and the darker shapes of the trees. Technetium was quite surprised that Berkelium would spend her nights walking in the seemingly empty hospital, she thought Berkelium wouldn't do something this impractical. Then again, looking after her, back when there was nothing to be done, was futile as well, maybe even more futile than a midnight walk in a lovely park. But for some reason the gynoid took a liking to her, and often visited her, offering to help or just kept her company, and Technetium quickly came to like her as well. Berkelium rapidly became an important person for Technetium, a person who went to her in earnest, without scheming, or being bound by obligation; she went to her because she wanted to. And Technetium treasures her, in her eyes, Berkelium is as good as a human; the fact that Berkelium felt the need to do seemingly pointless things, just because she wanted to, is a testament to that. Technetium grinned, as this thought led to another pointless idea; she would sneak up to Berkelium and surprise her; it would be utterly unnecessary and therefore very satisfying. Berkelium was looking the other way, so Technetium quietly followed her, catching up slowly while taking her posture of attack. Once within range, she leapt forward, but before she could reach her, the gynoid turned around in a split second and her red tentacle hands intercepted both of Technetium's hands. The move stopped as suddenly as it began, Technetium gaped from the situation reversal, her hands restrained.

"Hello, Technetium." said the gynoid, her voice distinctively synthesized.

Technetium gaped some more, then was able to speak "Berky...how?"

"I had detected you for some time, don't forget that I have very accurate environmental perception, I knew you were sneaking up on me."

Technetium made a childish pout, then said: "Weren't you afraid?"

"Afraid? Of what?"

"Of me sneaking on you? Maybe I meant you harm?"

A beat passed before Berkelium answered, she couldn't do facial expressions, but Technetium guessed she was puzzled by the suggestion "Meant me harm? I don't believe you'll ever harm me, even if you claimed it."

"And despite that, you restrained me like a thief." said Technetium teasingly.

"I figured you were sneaking to surprise me, so I wanted to turn the tables at the last moment." 

Technetium pouted "Why?"

"Because your pouting face amuses me."

Technetium gave her a questioning look, and after a long beat "You're so human, it's almost scary."

"Err-I didn't mean to..." said Berkelium quickly while setting Technetium free. Technetium had her troubled, and could easily push her on the matter, but she was actually happy to see Berkelium joke around with her like that, it was a sign of closeness.

"Relax Berky, I'm happy you did that actually, what are friends for if not for throwing jabs at each other like that?"

"I guess, but you're my first real friend, I mean I love Uranium and Tantalum, but I feel things are different with you." 

"I think it's because our friendship is not a result of me being your creator or caretaker, we're friends simply because we wanted to, and I love you for that Berky."

"I-um love you too, Technetium."

Technetium approached the gynoid, she didn't hug her because she would run out of arms for that, but she gently leaned on her and put her hands on the red cross that decorated Berkelium's chest. After a few seconds, she felt Berkelium's 'fingers' on her back, gently closing the hug. They stayed like that for a long moment, the silence was eventually broken by Berkelium, and that fact alone was worthy of mention as the gynoid rarely started conversations.

"Technetium, you'll be leaving the hospital today?"

"Yes." replied Technetium softly.

"I...I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too Berky, but don't worry, I'm not planning to disappear, I'll have medical visits with Tantalum, so I'll see you during those."

"I see, I'll look forward to them."

"I also have other plans."

"What are they?"

"They're a secret for now."

"...I'm a bit disappointed." said Berkelium.

Technetium giggled and pulled out of the hug. She reached Berkelium's head and gently pulled it towards her own until they were just inches apart, Berkelium bending over to allow it. Technetium looked deeply in Berkelium's...visor.

"Sorry Berky, but don't worry, this plan does include seeing you again, perhaps regularly, so trust me on that okay?"

"I would trust you on everything, Technetium." said Berkelium, as Technetium hugged her head.

They stayed a long time like that with Technetium gently stroking Berkelium's head. Eventually, she yawned, indicating that sleepiness caught up with her. Without being asked, Berkelium picked her up and slowly made her way back to Technetium's room. By the time she got there, Technetium was already asleep, so the gynoid gently put her to bed. Not gently enough as Technetium momentarily emerged from her sleep, her eyes half-open.

"Berky, we'll see each other again, I promise." she said.

Berkelium nodded, Technetium smiled and closed her eyes, falling sound asleep.


	2. A sunny day after the storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Molybdenum looks back on the eventful years she just lived.

It was the first day off in a long time for Molybdenum, so she took it easy by going on a relaxing walk by the canals, thoughtfully looking at the big laboratory. It’s actually more than meets the eye; not only it housed all sorts of engineering research and a steadily growing staff, but it also served as an apartment building for herself, her daughter Technetium, her wife Uranium, and then Thorium, Plutonium, Neptunium, the gynoids Californium, Einsteinium, and Fermium….even Protactinium had a room here, although she rarely uses it since she's mostly away for her oceanographer work. 

Of course, in the bigger story of her life, this environment is quite recent; six years ago, she was involved with Carbon while her daughter Technetium was always hanging out with Steel and Terne. Now, she's with Uranium, and Technetium delights herself in being around the gynoids. Her circle of friends completely changed (save for Lead), but her beloved daughter was a constant, like an island of stability in the sea of changes.

Well the concept of Technetium as a 'symbol of stability‘ was quite a shaky one, as Technetium changed quite a bit. She's a cyborg now; she retained her original head and torso (well, most of it), but her limbs and spine had been replaced by synthetic ones. Molybdenum wasn't really thrilled about that, at first, but time and hindsight only convinced her it was for the best. After all, she still has vivid memories of Technetium horribly maimed, trapped into the twisted remains of her ruined car…A cold night after a rainy day, a patch of ice on the road; that was all it took to make her life a free trip at Vulcan’s dining table. The year that followed this fateful accident was bleak depressing; neither she or Technetium had a proper life. But at least, they still had their physical life, which allowed Uranium and her associates to give back to both of them the happiness they've lost. The story had its unlikely happy ending, but the painful memories stayed, and will never go away; she’ll have to live with them and she knows it. It’s not that bad, though; this stingy reminder just makes her value her time with her daughter even more; they’ve always been close, and it’s not scheduled to stop anytime soon. Years after her operation, Technetium's life resumed, and is going uphill; she does well in med school, found an awesome girlfriend, has many friends (while still seeing Steel and Terne) and on the whole, she has never been happier. While she's steadily becoming a responsible adult, she also likes to act like a spoiled and clingy child around her mother, and Molybdenum can’t hide that she finds it endearing; she really loves her cute cyborg baby girl.

If Technetium represents continuity (sort of), the one definitely representing change is Uranium. Genius gadgeteer and renowned engineer, Uranium was the brain behind Technetium’s miraculous recovery. Her relationship with Uranium was off to a shaky start, but that was because she was an emotional wreck at the time. With Technetium needing special attention because of her synthetic limbs, the three of them got the opportunity of seeing each other often…and she got the opportunity of growing closer and closer to Uranium. It did take a few years and Technetium’s heavy-handed intervention, but the two of them eventually became a couple. Their relationship has been going well, and with Molybdenum now living with Uranium, they now have their perfect wife and wife routine. Uranium is quite the perfect wife herself, even if she’s often busy with work and meeting up with one of the many people she knows. Despite her crazy schedule, though, she always finds time for her and Technetium; she's a very caring person, and strives to please the people she likes...and in Molybdenum's case, she uses a special type of _pleasing_ as well. But for all her bedroom and engineering talents, Uranium seems extremely talented in surrounding herself with weird people.

And among all of her friends or acquaintances; Thorium was both the strangest and more significant. A companion of Uranium since their high school days, Thorium is such a staple of Uranium’s life that she suspects that her disappearing would affect Uranium more than herself disappearing. Molybdenum was okay with that, actually; the heart has room for a lot of affections, and Uranium’s heart was seemingly boundless. Molybdenum was mainly interested in keeping one very special spot in Uranium’s heart; while Thorium could have her own special spot as well. Actually, Thorium had her own special everything…even her very own adjective: ‘Thorium’. Molybdenum found it silly at first but as she spent time with her, she came to the same conclusion as everyone else; the best way of describing Thorium is simply ‘Thorium’. Sure one could use more generic adjectives, but each of them would only tell one part of the story, so ‘Thorium’ sums up the peculiarity, the lunacy, and the aloofness quite nicely.

Things would've been reasonably manageable if only Thorium was ‘Thorium’, but as it happens, the oldest of Uranium’s nieces Plutonium was becoming more and more 'Thorium' by the day...and arguably worse. Plutonium not only has Thorium's strong brand of personality, but she's also much brasher and louder. Plutonium likes action movies, very heavy music, squash, vibrant colours, gaudy hair dyes, and drives her bright red car like a complete maniac. Spending time alone with Plutonium requires patience and strong nerves, as her high energy enthusiasm radiates strongly enough on normal occasions...and should she be particularly emotional, the bystanders better bunker down to not being caught by the blast. This girl – well, she’s a woman, now - is so different from Neptunium and Uranium that Molybdenum suspects she got subjected to a strong dose of Thorium at a very young age. If this was indeed the case, it also had its advantages; has Plutonium picked Thorium’s interests for all that is software, and lately Thorium hinted that Plutonium might surpass her and Europium both. Molybdenum found funny that a girl that usually couldn’t sit still for ten seconds could be so good at something that requires a lot of concentration, but maybe her restless behaviour is her way of venting the stress of programming.

At the other end of the scale; Plutonium's sister Neptunium is quiet and reserved, somewhat shy. Well, emphasis on ‘somewhat’, as she’s certainly no shrinking violet, but she really took her calm and poise from her aunt Uranium. She also wanted to take more _things_ from Uranium, some juicy things at that, but once Molybdenum appeared in the picture, she just deflated and got swept off her feet by Technetium. Kind of strange when she thinks about it; but it seems that her crush on Uranium was a childish thing, and she was just unknowingly waiting for the right...er, cyborg, to chase after her. Molybdenum kind of wanted to know how bedroom activities went with a cyborg, but since said cyborg was her daughter, she actually didn't want to know. Still their relationship is as steady as her own with Uranium; Neptunium is older and has a steady job as Uranium's assistant, so she can support her younger aspiring doctor girlfriend. This whole thing also made her much closer to Neptunium as well; with the matter of who would claim the Uranium out of the way, they found themselves very much alike in personality and they often hang out together, whether they're free from their various obligations

On the whole, Uranium's clique was pretty colourful and even if it got tiring sometimes, Molybdenum really came to like them all, she even got used living with the gynoids that were ‘based’ here. Not actually a problem, but it did require some time to get used to. They were all different but they were all interesting. The oldest one, Californium, for example, is as much a relic of the past as an incredibly high-tech…machine? Person? Both actually, as she’s definitely sentient, but lack layers of complexity in her artificial mind. Molybdenum asked Uranium if she planned to upgrade Californium, but Uranium said that it’s not in the works; the gynoids being sentient, she won’t mess with them if it’s not a direct request from them. When asked, Californium couldn’t understand the concept of upgrading and what it would be good for. It kind of went against Molybdenum’s very human outlook of always thriving for the best, because…well it’s the best; it’s not the most useful or the more appropriate, it’s 'the best' and she never questioned that, so it took her a lot of time to grasp at Californium’s outlook on life.

The other gynoids are much more advanced and complex, and if she didn't have much contact with Einsteinium, the gynoid assisting Thorium, she couldn't have more contact with Fermium. Fermium was build to assist her in her work, she didn't ask for it, but Uranium and Lead made that decision unilaterally. She wasn't sure about it at first; it's not that she was reluctant having the responsibility of a gynoid, but she considered herself completely clueless about what to do. When Fermium was completed, she taught her the job she'll have to do, but it kind of stayed at this level for some time, and it wasn't until later that she realized the emotional role she played for the gynoid's development. A gynoid essentially sees her caretaker as an invaluable source of knowledge and religiously follows her example. Of course, Uranium told her that at the beginning, but it was still an abstract thing for Molybdenum back then; it was only when Fermium herself opened to her that she realized the important role she played for Fermium. Since then, she took a more maternal approach with, and her relationship with Fermium got much closer and easy-going as Molybdenum found herself in a familiar position; she had a lot of maternal experience with Technetium and Steel. 

All in all, it was quite a strange place she landed in, and that wasn't even counting Mercury's visits (although she already knew Mercury since childhood), or when Thorium's fiery daughter Actinium drops by. Molybdenum grew very fond of it, though, and it helped that Technetium also completely made herself at home and gets along with everyone. Technetium actually immediately made herself at home, while Molybdenum needed some questioning to fully accept this change. It’s funny how people can get so stubborn and cling onto things that have no reason to continue. It kind of was her case immediately after Technetium’s operation; she tried to cling onto the fact that she was Technetium’s main family (which, even at the time, wasn't true) and instinctively tried to repel all the things that were changing in her life. 

She's glad she grew out of it, as she was truly happy with how her life was going; the days of sorrow came and went, and now she had a bright future ahead of her.


End file.
